The great founding fathers of our nation had the will, vision, and desire to declare their independence from Great Britain, demonstrating that they were courageous, visionary, and bold. Yet, to declare something, even something of great value is not the same thing as achieving it, something, that when the first shots of our war of Independence were fired, this nation would soon find out.
To fight a war against the greatest military and world power which was Great Britain, would entail not just uncommon valor, but soldiers, personnel, food, equipment, training, logistics, money, and outside aid. The fact of the matter is that America knew that it needed the assistance and aid from other countries in regards to military equipment, ships, arms, personnel, experience, and diplomatic recognition in order to achieve victory, because without such, they could not successfully defeat the British. At best, America could take advantage of the fact that its people knew the lay of the land, and thereby would utilize this superior knowledge to hit and run, so as to strategically live to fight another day with the hope that America could wear away the British resolve to fight over an extended period of time and expense.
At the time of our declaration, France was a country that was Great Britain's bitter rival, and would like nothing better than to see Great Britain weakened by the upstart Americans, but for France backing a losing horse was not something that was worth their time or expense. However, when America demonstrated in the battle of Saratoga of September-October, 1777, that they had the fight in them to take it to the overconfident and reckless British general Burgoyne and thereby defeated and forced his surrender, France, within a couple of months, recognized the United States of America.
It was upon this formal recognition that brought to the United States of America, the French commitment to aid our young nation with military personnel, monetary credit, weapons, ammunition, and the vital French navy. The critical fact that the French brought their navy to American shores, made it problematic that Great Britain could successfully embargo or blockade our ports so as to successfully affect economic ruin upon America. So too, this meant that Great Britain would now be fighting a war that had taken on global proportions so as to therefore necessitate Great Britain to defend the English Channel as well as their interests in the West Indies, effectively stretching their resources and personnel worldwide.
Ultimately, it was the French navy led by Admiral De Grasse that blockaded the Chesapeake bay and in conjunction with Washington's land forces essentially trapped General Cornwallis' troops at Yorktown, Virginia, which was the decisive military battle, that led to Great Britain's decision to end the war and to seek a peaceful resolution which resulted in the truly independent United States of America.
In actuality, there was little chance that a young and budding America could actually defeat Great Britain, and it could not have done so without France and to a lesser extent Spain's material assistance. It was France, above all other nations that provided the funds and its formidable navy that materially assisted in the fruition of this great nation, to their everlasting credit